Phoenix Negatives (Flagstaff, Sedona: houses, schools, restaurants)

[fennec2009]

Originally Posted by christiner81

the water quality is awful and it's very hard.

I agree, it's terrible showering without a water softener here!

[Valley Native]

The intense summer heat & heavy rush hour traffic are two negatives, but they have already been brought up several times. Even though I despise the heat, I've learned to handle it pretty well by escaping it: my vacation spots are often the San Diego area or northern/eastern AZ where the temps can be 30 degrees cooler.

As far as the traffic, I agree it can be bad during peak commute times. Some streets & freeways are at a complete standstill between 4 & 6 PM. But during non rush hour times, it's usually not all that bad. Don't get me started on the slow drivers ... the ones who won't get moving while on the entrance ramps, or the ones who poke in the left lane. They are annoying as hell, but they can be found all over, not just here.

Here's one big pet peeve of mine: NIMBYs! The Phoenix area seems to have a heavy presence of the "Not In My Back Yard" types who oppose practically everything as far as development: freeways, highrises, stadiums, transit, theme parks, you name it. They are one reason why this area lagged behind on so many things for too long, and they are one part of why the central core doesn't have an impressive skyline. NIMBYs have started lawsuits over proposed hotel towers ... and one vocal group in my neighborhood fought tooth & nail to stop Donald Trump from building a paltry 20 story building a few years ago. The sad thing is these NIMBYs usually have nothing better to than stir trouble & protest, but the really sad part is they often end up winning, so development either is delayed or halted completely.

[liz451]

I have lived here 24 out of my 26 years and have never used oven mitts. As long as you use a sun shade in your windshield you'll be fine. Although I have to say last summer was a whole lot nicer with a remote starter for my car so the AC was already chilly when I got in.

NIMBY's is an interesting term. I guess I'm one. Yes, when Trump wants to build a 20 story building 8 miles from downtown that would be more than double the size of any other building I get it. Zoning exists for a reason. Maybe if our city council hadnt allowed all these 7-8 story buildings all over Phoenix most development would have been based downtown and guess what...a more vibrant downtown!

I find bad drivers everywhere..when I lived in Chicago it was near terrifying. Phoenix is a breeze, just live close to where you work if possible and know the freeway routes that get really jammed from 7-8:30 and 4:30-6. It's a relatively small window of traffic here, not too bad.

[maverick974]

I've lived here for two summers now and my car has a leather interior. That's not something I would recommend. Go with a cloth interior if you have a choice. I don't have a remote starter or even any window shades so the interior of my car get the full impact from the sun. I do admit that if the seat is in the direct sun, it's too hot to sit in for a few minutes until the A/C cools it off a bit so to offset that, I typically park strategically so that the seat isn't in the sun. Barring that, I keep a towel in the car just for that purpose. To sit on if I've got shorts on. I wouldn't have this problem if the interior was cloth. My truck has a cloth interior and I don't have any problem even in direct sunlight.
As far as the steering wheel? I have a cloth steering wheel cover on both vehicles and that solves the problem. No oven mitts or anything. They just don't get that hot.
Hey, I've got a negative to complain about. When it's blazing hot outside, why do they keep the grocery stores so darn cold? It will be well into the 100's so most of us are in shorts, T-shirts and flippy's. I walk into the grocery store and I freeze my tail off the entire time I'm in there. The walk from the grocery store to my car in 110 degree heat is actually enjoyable so I can warm up. It's like that in every grocery store I've been to. I would think they could save a ton of money on utilities if they just warmed up the store just a few degrees.
Why do they do that????????

[bobbyf]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Trust me, I know that look all too well coming from Detroit. Even in the open desert, the drabness will never compare to a grey northern winter.

I don't want to turn this into another discussion about weather, but you're exactly right. What some people are not aware of is the extent of the greyness in certain areas of the north/northeast.

The sun shone fully for half a day yesterday (Tuesday), meaning a clear blue sky with a few clouds here and there. Monday it poked through the clouds for a bit, but didn't reach the ground.

That last time the sky was clear and the sun shone brightly like that was nine days before. We're talking long, extended periods of no sun whatsoever, days at a time of completely grey skies. It's not even bright enough to cause outdoor dusk to dawn lights to shut off.

Where I live, there is on average, some form of measurable precip on 167 days a year (keep in mind that half a year is ~182 days) so two weeks shy of half the year, there is measurable precip (which typically does not fall out of a clear sky). It is common for it to rain for days on end. Not a thunderstorm passing through. Constant rain (and gloom) lasting for days.

So even if there was a lack of color in Phoenix, which I didn't find to be true, there are far worse things than brown desert, red rocks, bougainvillea, etc.

And northeast summers can be relatively hot, so without constant watering/fertilizing, etc, our lawns are brown and burnt by July.

Every thing is relative and everything is a trade-off. Just know what you're trading.

[cacto]

Originally Posted by maverick974

I've lived here for two summers now and my car has a leather interior. That's not something I would recommend. Go with a cloth interior if you have a choice. I don't have a remote starter or even any window shades so the interior of my car get the full impact from the sun. I do admit that if the seat is in the direct sun, it's too hot to sit in for a few minutes until the A/C cools it off a bit so to offset that, I typically park strategically so that the seat isn't in the sun. Barring that, I keep a towel in the car just for that purpose. To sit on if I've got shorts on. I wouldn't have this problem if the interior was cloth. My truck has a cloth interior and I don't have any problem even in direct sunlight.
As far as the steering wheel? I have a cloth steering wheel cover on both vehicles and that solves the problem. No oven mitts or anything. They just don't get that hot.
Hey, I've got a negative to complain about. When it's blazing hot outside, why do they keep the grocery stores so darn cold? It will be well into the 100's so most of us are in shorts, T-shirts and flippy's. I walk into the grocery store and I freeze my tail off the entire time I'm in there. The walk from the grocery store to my car in 110 degree heat is actually enjoyable so I can warm up. It's like that in every grocery store I've been to. I would think they could save a ton of money on utilities if they just warmed up the store just a few degrees.
Why do they do that????????

As a dairy/frozen guy at a grocery store I'm guessing it's so the coolers won't have to work too hard. A lot of dairy coolers are open without doors and they're always needing repair or maintenance. Just a guess.

[cacto]

Originally Posted by stephen431

Everyone so far has nailed a lot of the bothers, but honestly, for a recent college grad, Phoenix would be a pretty great place to live.

The only thing I haven't seen mentioned that can bother new arrivals after a while is the lack of green color. We're in a desert, so you may start to miss the green landscape from wherever you're coming from. Maybe this is similar to the "island fever" that people get when they move to Hawaii.

Depends on the season.

[cre8lite]

I lived in Phx for 5 yrs during the 90s while I was attending college, I'm sure some thing have changed. My only issues with the town:

* rush hour traffic
* holiday traffic
* as a starving college student, there wasn't much to do except golf or shop. anything (besides hiking) else was a drive to get to & with only 2 main interstates to/from town....guess where EVERYONE would be at the end of a long weekend???
* the "wind" that would occasionally come thru town? it was a hot wind, not a cool ocean breeze. when it's 118 outside, a nice cool ocean breeze would feel good. that hot breeze just added to the discomfort.

I do miss the lightening storms & I do come back to attend the Ren Faire, but that's about it....

[stephen431]

Originally Posted by cacto

Depends on the season.

Oh, believe me, my yard is greener right now than it ever was in Ohio... and that's with desert landscaping.

It's not necessarily a bad thing to have that greenery withdrawal. A simple day trip up the road to one of the national forests will cure it. The forests around here are spectacular.

Here's a shot I took from one of the trails off the 32nd st. trailhead.

[youthinkso]

All depends what you call GREEN, for February this is GREEN for most of North America.